Japanese, Japanese-Americans mark the day that the U.S. Democratic Party threw them and parents and grandparents in internment camps
Settle down, class. It's Sunday February 20, so show some respect, please.
It's a chilly 81 degrees (27 Canadian degrees) in Bangkok but Global Warming will probably take over by this afternoon.
Japanese, Japanese-Americans mark the day that the Democratic Party threw them and parents and grandparents in "internment camps"*
*Alternate name for concentration camps
The current U.S.A. President Joe Biden swears he won't do it again, at least not for now.
'Let it not happen again,' he said, although to be truthful he had no direct involvement in the 1942 internment order.
So he promised to tackle racism.
Biden, who does not speak Japanese, made a statement: "We reaffirm our commitment to nidoto nai yoni," which translates to "let it not happen again."
Biden is also described as "against the killings and violence" inflicted on people of Asian descent in America today.
He will visit Japan "later this year."
In 1942, then-president Franklin Roosevelt signed the order to lock up 120,000 people, most of them born in the United States.
Americans and Democratic Party phuyai were convinced Japanese Americans would spy for Japan, although none of them did.
For years after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, many Japanese Americans lived in harsh, overcrowded conditions, surrounded by barbed-wire fences and armed guards. They not only lost their homes, businesses, property and savings but also their liberty and fundamental freedom.
PHOTO: The most kindly U.S. authorities allowed people of Japanese descent to have air inside the trucks that hauled them to concentration camps.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/02/19/national/japanese-american-internment-anniversary/
https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/november-2016/japanese-internment-camps-book/
NOTE: The Canadian government had already started beating and interning all 22,000 people who looked like maybe-Japanese, one month and one week earlier. Just to show the U.S. government how it's done.
The Yellowhead Highway that enslaved Japanese-appearing people built runs through Saskatoon.
Just spit-ballin' here but... can you even IMAGINE what the Cancel Culture Clunks of Identity Politics would do if there was a Yellowhead Highway in America?
The Wikipedia article is fact-packed, with many links to help your search.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saskatchewan_Highway_16
THAILAND U.S.A. WAR GAMES
The 40th Cobra Gold begins on Sunday, but it won't be a war games exercise.
Calling Cobra Gold 2022 "reduced scale" is an exaggeration. Compared with even the recent past it's tinier than infinitesimal.
Because of all that Chinese coronavirus that's going on, there will be 2,000 Thai soldiers and 1,200 Americans, along with tinyl numbers of "observers" - including two from China.
The "war games" starting on Sunday will feature officers and aides sitting around to read and order fake responses to fake warnings about humanitarian emergencies.
The Thai junta and the Biden administration have agreed that even "humanitarian training drills" are certain to boost U.S.-Thai relations.
https://bityl.co/B0W0
A day in Thailand's parliament
On Day Two of the non-confidence debate, wealthy "minister of public health" Anutin Charnvirakul faced a barrage of anti-government questioning.
In a brief speech, Anutin explained:
"Thailand's handling of the (Chinese Covid-19) pandemic was the best in the world."
Full stop. Any other questions?
PHOTO: Anutin to parliament: 'Thailand's response was as good as any country in the world.' Sad. He may be right.
https://www.innnews.co.th/news/politics/news_293783/
This is on every front page and every "Good Morning Thailand" TV broadcast on Saturday, and I haven't any idea what it actually means:
Prayut eyes extra effort to stem rise in infections
Prayut on Friday ordered the governor of every province to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 infections after the country logged over 18,000 new cases yesterday.
Prayut refused to level with the country.
Instead, he ordered his personal spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana to get out there and deal with the vultures.
Poor old Thanakorn forced himself to say that "Prayut informed all (77) governors in Bangkok and other provinces that they need to speed up campaigns deterring the spread of Covid-19 by cooperating with all sectors.
"Prayut also urged people to fully comply with Covid-19 preventive measures and closely monitor any outbreaks.
"The (so-called) 'government' will develop further plans to combat the virus in the event that infections spike above 18,000 cases a day," Thanakorn said.
Junta dooms Phuket resort
The crime-busting Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has agreed to look into the case of Sri Panwat Resort, on the tip of Phuket island province.
The province governor Narong Wunsiew has insisted that the lavish, 50-rai resort is 100% lega.
But the junta and two hard-line pro-monarchy groups claim its Nor Sam 3 documents are forged, and demands that the resort be razed to the ground.
Thailand's military junta treats refugees as 'trafficked'
On Saturday, police arrested a man in southern Songkhla province on charges of 'attempting to smuggle Myanmar migrants into Malaysia'.
A combined team of soldiers and police raided a rented house in Padang Besar municipality to arrest Saiyid Ratdaewa, 33.
The arrest followed an extended police investigation and crackdown after illegal migrants from Myanmar were caught at a rubber plantation near the southern border in Sadao district on the night of January 20.
Burmese Muslims, especially Rohingya, attempt to flee to Indonesia and Malaysia to find jobs.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2266759/
Japan on Saturday eased entry restrictions for foreign students, business travelers and other nontourists. Thai tourists were disappointd.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/02/17/national/japan-eases-covid-border-restrictions/
Hong Kong Hospitals Hit 90% Capacity as COVID-19 Cases Surge
https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/international/2022/02/18/
Amnesty International goes defiant, says it won't leave Thailand
An Amnesty International statement said it will take a heck of a lot more than protests by right-wing radicals (photo below) to move them out of Thailand.
The statement came after royalist groups said they will present a petition with 1.2 million signatures to the government calling for it to revoke Amnesty International's charity license, which would effectively shut down the country's branch of the international human rights organization.
Then came AI:
"The anti-Amnesty campaign comes at a time when authorities are separately trying to pass a controversial law regulating non-profit organizations in the country," said Amnesty's deputy secretary general Kyle Ward.
He was referring to a draft NGOs Operations Bill due to be deliberated by the parliament.
https://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics/2022/02/17/amnesty-international-says-it-wont-leave-thailand-amid-calls-for-expulsion/
It is entirely about the power.
Another "extension of the emergency decree" will also be coming soon to Thailand:
With Possibility of Protests Looming, Joe Biden Extends U.S. COVID-19 National Security Declaration to Retain Additional Power.
As for the Chinese Covid-19 coronavirus:
The daily tally of coronavirus-related deaths and newly diagnosed infections continued to rise in Thailand on Friday, with the latest 27 fatalities aged between 10 and 90 years.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/02/18/with-possibility-of-protests-looming-joe-biden-extends-u-s-covid-19-national-security-declaration-to-retain-additional-power/
The New York Times:
Ex-Modeling Agent and Epstein Associate Found Dead in a Paris Jail
Hillary Clinton's alleged "alibi" under investigation.
Did Faltering Fizzishun Fauci Flip Flop again and recomment more and more AND MORE booster shots to try to fight Chinese Covid-19 coronavirus?
He sure did.
Additional boosters are the thing, baby!
Even Snoops can't protect him, this time.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/boosters-fauci/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/boosters-fauci/
BOTTOM LINE: Even Fauci has no idea of what is "fully vaccinated".
Thailand eyes changes in fake 'Test & Go' programme
Test & Go has failed once and is currently failing a relaunch.
One problem: It's not "test and go". It's test, lockdown, quarantine, test again and maybe go, maybe not.
The Tourism and Sports Minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, vowed on Friday he will "soon" scrap the first quarantine and the second RT-PCR anti-coronavirus test, and see if that helps attact more foreign tourists.
Unbelievably, he now proposes to
Replace the second RT-PCR test for coronavirus with an antigen test. Which might be faster.
What he has NOT proposed is scrapping the mandatory one-to-10 night quarantine under armed guard, which annoys would-be tourists so much they go somewhere else.
At present, all arriving foreigners are required to book and prepay two hotel reservations.
Then Phiphat quickly changed the subject, without a shred of shame or explanation, and lauded the possible arrival of Saudi Arabian tourists in coming months.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2266615/
CRIME PROPERTY DEFENSE
Jewellery thieves pick the wrong store
In Colorado, one of 53 states and territories of the U.S.A., you don't require a license to have a gun handy in your home, your car or your office. It's The Law!
Suspect shot by employee during jewellery store theft in Colorado Spring
"I feel most bad for the small business owner of the jewelry store. As a small business owner, I just have a tremendous amount of respect for people that are out there trying to make it on their own and do a good job because they were passionate about their business, and it hurts me most to think about a small business owner going through something like this ... I wish them and their families just the best."
STORY and VIDEO
https://www.kktv.com/2022/02/17/jewelry-store-robbery-under-investigation-colorado-springs/
SCIENCE ASTRONOMY
It's bloody difficult to hide when you are supermassive, eh?
Supermassive black hole spotted hiding in cosmic dust 47M light-years from Earth.
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2022/02/16/space-cosmic-dust-black-hole-galaxy-observatory/1791645036929/
Say his name
The leader of Thailand's paltry parliamentary opposition smelt blood in the political swamp on Friday.
Pheu Thai party leader Chonlanan Srikaew accused the junta's designated 'prime minister' Prayut Chan-o-cha of being the root cause of all the pressing problems now facing Thailand.
"The best way to solve all these problems is for the prime minister to step aside and for a more capable person to take his place," said Chonlanan.
Alternatively, Prayut could dissolve parliament and hold a general election.
https://www.thaipbsworld.com/pm-opposition-leader-in-showdown-on-first-day-of-debate-in-thai-parliament/
AI faces expulsion
The group issued a defensive statement on Friday:
"Amnesty International has had a long-standing presence in Thailand and is committed to continuing to promote and protect human rights for people in the country despite calls for it to be expelled."
NEWS YOU CAN USE
The extremely popular PayPal online banking-type service is closing.
Specifically for the moment, all PayPal accounts created before March of 2021 will be unusable by everyone in Thailand.
In fact PayPal began rejecting payments last week,
The military rulers want all PayPal customers to pay tax. And if you receive money via PayPal for your work, well, it won't be available, starting immediately.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2260371/
Great Wall loses the battle to produce the Thai junta's electric vehicle plan
That is, it has to make some.
GWM said in a press release it might be ready to manufacture EVs within two years - provided the junta starts printing tax rebates and sales subsidies.
After a six-year search for someone, anyone, to make EVs (electric vehicles) in Thailand, the junta finally announced it will let the Chinese company Great Wall Motors try it.
Almost since the day of the coup that ousted Thailand's last elected government in May, 2014, the designated 'prime minister' and ex-general Prayut has insisted there must be a firm, somewhere that could try to make Thailand go EV.
He bribed, intimidated, threatened, cajoled and begged automakers from the United States, Japan, France, Germany and so on. They all said "No!"
So Great Wall Motors is the last chance.
There is little infrastructure for EV sales, maintenance and daily use of EVs.
It's going to cost the junta even more to try to boost EVs than it has spent battling the other well-known Chinese export, Covid-19 coronavirus.
https://www.just-auto.com/news/great-wall-to-produce-evs-in-thailand-in-2024/
THAILAND CORONAVIRUS
Stats as of midnight on Friday.
New cases: 18,885 (2,693,362)
New deaths 29 (22,597)
Things I never knew until today.
Bangkok has a Hotel Tranz. And it is SHA.
http://www.hoteltranz.com/
Provinces with the most new cases on Friday.
1. Bangkok 2,891
2. Samut Prakan 994
3. Chonburi 805
4. Nonthaburi 661
5. Phuket 496
6. Samut Sakhon 460
7. Nakhon Ratchasima 457
8. Nakhon Si Thammarat 402
9. Pathum Thani 382
10. Ratchaburi 371
Around the region
Hong Kong says 20,000 hotel rooms earmarked for quarantine as Covid-19 cases surge. 3,600 new cases on Friday.
Patients left to lie outside in the cold, as Hong Kong displays the effect of socialised medicine.
On Wednesday the absolute ruler of Hong Kong, Xi Jinping, ordered authorities to shape up and get the Covid-19 outbreak under control.
https://bityl.co/AzMs
South Korea eases its curfew, but new Covid-19 cases top 100,000 for the first time.
https://bityl.co/AzN6
[AFP] The very same New Zealand government that used to brag about how super-well it fought Chinese Covid-19 ordered police to fight and clear off a few hundred Canadian-insipired protesters from in front of parliament.
Police said, "Huh."
NOTE: The most brilliant minds in New Zealand history advised the government to play the annoying 'Baby Shark' ditty on a 15-minute loop, displaying their total ignorace of crowd control.
NOTE2: When one chief of police is shown publicly as smarter than the prime minister, all politicians and all academic point-heads combined, your country has big problems. New Zealand has big, political problems.
https://ugolini.co.th/ugolini/new-zealand-police-reject-calls-to-clear-anti-vax-camp/
Japan's Covid deaths mount, in a fresh infection wave like to last into April.
https://enewspapermy.com/featured/japans-covid-deaths-mount-in-wave-estimated-to-last-till-april/
The "medical experts" of Malaysia call on the government to switch tacks and accept a policy of "living with Covid". They say eradication of Covid-19 lies "a long way in the future".
https://enewspapermy.com/featured/living-with-covid-19-in-malaysia-experts-say-time-to-accept-new-way-of-life-virus-eradication-still-long-way-to-go/
India went figuratively on bended knees to the G-20 on Friday. The country claimed it needs more money to try to prepare for future pandaemics.
https://bityl.co/AzOy
NEWS YOU DIDN'T KNOW UNTIL NOW
Canda was far head of South Africa in installing apartheid.
Completely true story: In the early 1980s, a South African government official offered this EXACT deal to my (ethnic Chinese) wife.
